Read Ireland Book News - Issue 22
<-- [Back To Main Menu] 1. Finbar's Hotel devised and edited by Dermot Bolger (paperback; 9.99 Irish pounds / 15.00 US Dollars approximately) [Add To Basket]
Edited and conceived by Dermot Bolger and written by seven of Ireland's leading novelists (Dermot Bolger, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Hugo Hamilton, Jennifer Johnston, Joseph O'Connor, Colm Toibin), this novel builds into an extraordinary interwoven work of fiction, pulsating with humour, vitality and suspense.
Since the 1920s Finbar's Hotel has stook on Dublin's quays, at one time - behind its respectable facade - the haunt of surreptitious priests, prostitutes and politicians, but more recently sinking into terminal decline. Soon its new rock star owner will tear the building down, but during the course of one night Finbar's Hotel is about to be visited by a bewildering array of guests.
Dublin's most notorious criminal stalks its corridors in a dangerous game of bluff, unobserved by the loud-mouthed young man with an illicit, live cargo in his suitcase, or by the Dubliner hoping to experience one clandestine night of true glamour and high living. Buried family secrets are coming to the surface as two sisters get slowly drunk in their room, while in the crowded bar below - where a grieving daughter dreams of red-haired men - a dying woman engages in games of sex, lies and subterfuge with the American tour party guide. The barman is on the make, the night porter ensconced in his cubby hole with stolen vodka and the manager prowls between floors, perturbed by the identity of the pony-tailed man booking in.
This work of fiction is a unique and frequently hilarious snapshot of Irish writing at its most dazzling today.
2. Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend by Miranda J. Green (paperback; 9.90 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book contains entries on every aspect of Celtic myth, religion and folklore in Europe between 500 BC and AD 400. In parallel with the results of archaeological research, the testimony of Classical writers and the earliest recorded versions of the pagan oral traditions of Ireland and Wales provide the reader with a complete overview of Celtic lore. This all-embracing reference book presents that fund of knowledge in over 400 copiously-illustrated articles, together with a comprehensive historical introduction.
3. Celtic Design: A Sourcebook of Patterns and Motif by Iain Zaczek (hardback; 14.35 IRP/ 21.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
An inspirational sourcebook of Celtic images with over 1500 designs - abstract, figurative, decorative and symbolic.
The wealth of illustrations contained within the pages of this book encompass a huge range of Celtic imagery. From abstract spirals to figurative motifs, the craftsmanship and symmetry of patterns created by the ancient Celts are not only a compelling source of inspiration for modern designers and artists but reflect a culture rich in creativity.
The eight sections of the book cover Interlacing and Knotwork, Spirals and Circles, Calligraphy, Geometric patterns, Figurative designs, Jewellery, Artefacts, and Stonework. These convey the particular stylistic characteristics of Celtic design, and provide a fascinating glimpse into Celtic life through their everyday objects and ornamentation. The designs themselves are ingenious, ranging from sombre to mischievous, and from simple to the more intricate. They include delightful bird interlacing, triangular knots and fishtail loops, hair-tugging children and beard-pulling figures, and highly elaborate lettering the shape of animals.
With exciting visual reference on every page and informative captions highlighting details of particular interest, this is an outstanding comprehensive sourcebook for all designers, artists, art students and art historians.
4. In Search of Ireland: A Cultural Geography edited by Brian Graham (paperback; 17.60 IRP / 26.40 USD) [Add To Basket]
What is the meaning of Ireland and Irishness? Can there be a multicultural Ireland? Catholics and Protestants, nationalists and unionists, draw upon the past and its place to validate their contemporary circumstances and future aspirations in Ireland, but they do so within a complex geographical mosaic of overlapping cultures and axes of belonging.
Arguing the Ireland's political problems are largely created by the ensuing conflicts and confusions of identity, this book discusses the nature of the political economy and the exercise of power within the context of the island's contemporary cultural geography. It examines the ways in which the meanings of Irish place, both North and South, have been invented and manipulated through representations that create images of inclusion and exclusion. In so doing, the authors consider the relevance of nation, class, gender, ethnicity, language and representation of place, to understanding and reconciling the complex and contested nature of contemporary Irish identities. They point to the implications of these ideas for the future governance of Ireland where cease-fires and political debate represent no more than the beginnings of the processes of social and cultural transformation necessary to attain any eventual reconciliation of the island's peoples.
5. The Woman Who Took Power in the Park: Mary Robinson, President of Ireland, 1990-1997 by Lorna Siggins (hardback; 16.50 IRP / 24.75 USD) [Add To Basket]
Almost three decades after the young graduate in a mini-skirt broke the mould with her spectacular election to the Irish senate, Mary Robinson is still an Irish idol. A human-rights lawyer and constitutional expert, the Mayo-born mother of three became Ireland's first woman Head of State when she was elected President in 1990. Although her historic and almost unexpected victory bestowed influence without power, she has used her office to draw attention to global emergencies, such as famine and economic exploitation in Africa.
But Ireland's best known President since Eamon de Valera is also credited with empowering community groups at a time of growing disenchantment with constitutional politics, and Mrs. Robinson has been described as a 'fierce and articulate enabler' for the marginalised everywhere. She has embraced a new, open, more tolerant Ireland which is still wracked by conflict in its six northern counties. And she has 'dignified feminism for the sceptical', in the words on one observer, by acknowledging the role of the women who helped forge a new twentieth-century state.
This sympathetic and well-balanced analysis examines the private individual behind the public image and discovers what motivates one of today's most highly-respected political figures.
6. Country Living by Liz Kavanagh (paperback; 7.99 IRP / 12.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
For nearly twenty years Liz Kavanagh has been delighting readers of the Irish Farmers Journal with her weekly column - a feisty, down-to-earth account of the many ups and downs of Irish rural life. From May Day nettle soup to mobile phones, from Eoin's PST (pre-silage tension) to the proper colour for wellies, from tussles with the Government to the trials and tribulations of bringing up five great boys - this is Liz Kavanagh at the top of her form!
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